journalism

June 10, 2015

Evan Solomon, one of the top on-air news personnel at CBC News, was fired by the CBC over selling paintings to people he interviewed as part of his journalism position.

Kevin Donovan from the Toronto Star had the report alleging that Solomon brokered the sale of paintings from art collector Bruce Bailey. Solomon mentions 2 clients in his statement (above). According to Donovan's story, the 2 clients are BlackBerry founder Jim Balsillie and Mark Carney, then the head of the Bank of Canada.

Solomon hosted "Power & Politics" on CBC News Network as well as "The House" on CBC Radio One. You might also remember that Solomon was the co-host of "CBC News: Sunday" on Sunday mornings on both CBC Newsworld and CBC TV from 2002-2009.

Journalism 101 is to avoid conflicts of interest, especially of a financial nature. Solomon admits to having 2 clients. If they were rich people who would never appear on Solomon's shows, Solomon would still have his jobs.

Many CBC followers would wonder why Solomon would lose his job, but Amanda Lang is still employed by the CBC. (For a Wikipedia listing of Lang's alleged conflicts, click here.) Based solely on what Lang has admitted to doing, Solomon got a raw deal by comparison.

Having another prominent CBC employee having to leave in disgrace is yet another blow to the CBC. Clearly, this doesn't compare to what happened to Jian Ghomeshi. However, like Ghomeshi, Solomon was intertwined with his shows.

Changing Solomon's show titles to lower case letters (yes, we are looking at you, q) won't solve the credibility issue. Between the Mike Duffy trial, the Senate spending scandals, Bill C-51 (which the Senate passed yesterday), and the 2015 federal election, this would be a great time to have a journalist with the talent and credibility of Evan Solomon … from last week.

We should learn details in the coming days that might clarify the story. For example, why did Solomon need to broker art? And if that is what happened, why do so with prominent newsmakers?

Solomon spent 21 years at CBC. And his journalism career at CBC comes to an end over paintings.

March 04, 2015

"Everyone in the place, except the waiter, was fat, some of them so fat that I kept having to look at them. I had never seen people that fat before. The strange thing was that none of them looked as if they were trying to hide their enormous girth; quite the opposite, several people were wearing tight T-shirts with their big bellies sticking out proudly."

Newfoundland rarely makes The New York Times, so when a Swedish travel writer made an observation that made Newfoundlanders to be enormously large, that was especially sad.

Karl Ove Knausgaard was in St. Anthony, Newfoundland at the northern end where he could see Labrador. St. Anthony is hundreds of kilometres away from St. John's. Also, Knausgaard was there in the middle of winter, so people are likely to be at their largest.

The writer doesn't come across well in the poorly written story, so that may be some consolation. Knausgaard also doesn't seem to want to get to know the people of Newfoundland, certainly not by reading the story. He spends more time pondering why he is clueless enough to not bring a unexpired drivers license on an assignment where he has to drive than on Newfoundland.

February 12, 2015

NBC's Brian Williams got suspended without pay for 6 months for fabricating details of a story that happened to him while covering the Iraq War in 1993. CTV's Brian Williams is doing just fine, but likely tired of hearing his name framed in such a negative fashion.

The Canadian Brian Williams had been active on the TV scene before the U.S. Brian Williams came along. Americans who could get the CBC remember Williams as the primary studio anchor for CBC Olympics coverage from 1984-2006. Since joining CTV in 2006, Williams has also anchored the Olympics coverage in 2010 and 2012.

The two Brian Williams got together during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, since CTV and NBC were covering the games. The two met on-air on the CTV set (see picture above).

If the NBC Brian Williams had been in Canada, he wouldn't have been covering the Iraq War to such a degree since Canada didn't send troops to Iraq. The allegations also extend to the Hurricane Katrina coverage.

As a journalist, I am not crazy about the way Williams handled those stories, even when we thought they were true. Journalists are supposed to be part of the story. Though to be fair, Williams isn't the only U.S. journalist who got too involved in this sudden need to be embedded with the troops during the Iraq War.

My model of a national news anchor would include Peter Jennings. Canadian yes, but also someone who witnessed a lot but knew how to handle himself in and out of the job.

We'll leave you now with the words of NBC's Brian Williams as he thanked Canada and Vancouver after covering the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Thank you, Canada: For being such good hosts. For your unfailing courtesy. For your (mostly) beautiful weather. For scheduling no more than 60 percent of your float plane departures at the exact moment when I was trying to say something on television. For not seeming to mind the occasional (or constant) good-natured mimicry of your accents. For your unique TV commercials — for companies like Tim Hortons — which made us laugh and cry. For securing this massive event without choking security, and without publicly displaying a single automatic weapon.

For having the best garment design and logo-wear of the games — you've made wearing your name a cool thing to do. For the sportsmanship we saw most of your athletes display. For not honking your horns. I didn't hear one car horn in 15 days — which also means none of my fellow New Yorkers rented cars while visiting. For making us aware of how many of you have been watching NBC all these years.

For having the good taste to have an anchorman named Brian Williams on your CTV network, who turns out to be such a nice guy. For the body scans at the airport which make pat-downs and cavity searches unnecessary. For designing those really cool LED Olympic rings in the harbor, which turned to gold when your athletes won one. For always saying nice things about the United States…when you know we're listening. For sharing Joannie Rochette with us.

For reminding some of us we used to be a more civil society. Mostly, for welcoming the world with such ease and making lasting friends with all of us.

February 05, 2015

The impact that Carlos Delgado made in Toronto with the Blue Jays was plenty enough to get Delgado in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Delgado had 8 straight 30-HR campaigns and leads the team all-time in 8 major offensive categories.

Delgado was placed in the Blue Jays Level of Excellence at Rogers Centre in 2003.

A couple of Canadian born players, a longtime Expos manager, and a legendary sportswriter will join Delgado. Matt Stairs and Corey Koskie not only had fine MLB careers, but also played for Canada's national team in the World Baseball Classic.

Matt Stairs is the best MLB player ever from New Brunswick (Saint John). Stairs got his MLB shot with the Montréal Expos, playing 19 games in 2 seasons: 1992 and 1993. In 2007 with Toronto, Stairs hit 21 HR with 64 RBI and a decent .289 season for being 39 years old. At 40, Stairs hit 11 HR with 44 RBI before being traded to Philadelphia where he won a World Series.

His best seasons came in Oakland in 1998 (.294-26-106) and 1999 (.258-38-102). Stairs made a name for himself late in his career as a pinch hitter extraordinaire.

Koskie, from Anola, Manitoba, had his fine career cut short due to concussion issues. Still, Koskie accomplished quite a lot.

A 3rd baseman, Koskie played 7 years for Minnesota. His best season was 2001 where he hit .276 with 26 HR and 103 RBI. If you don't count a 11-game appearance in 1998, Koskie hit double digits in home runs every year but one.

Koskie signed as a free agent in 2005 with Toronto. He was traded to Milwaukee for 2006 and was doing well until he suffered a career-ending concussion. Koskie tried for a comeback with the Chicago Cubs in 2009 but things didn't work out.

Koskie did make the playoffs 3 straight years for Minnesota from 2002-2004.

Felipe Alou bled rouge, blanc, et bleu of the Montréal Expos either as a player, instructor, or manager for 27 years. Alou managed the Expos from 1992-2001: leading the team to a 94-68 record in his first full season with Montréal in 1993. Of course, the team went 74-40 in the strike-shortened season of 1994. Alou even played 19 games for Montréal near the end of his career in 1973.

Bob Elliott, from Kingston, Ontario, serves as the Toronto Sun's baseball columnist. Elliott covered the Montréal Expos for the Ottawa Citizen starting in 1978 and switched to the Toronto Sun to cover the Blue Jays in 1987. Elliott has also bee honored with the 2012 J. G. Taylor Spink Award by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

October 27, 2014

"It's so incredibly sad, and should not happen in Canada. We're such a peaceful and loving country that for somebody to violate us like that, and try and take our innocence. The greatest thing we can do is stay Canadian and stay who we are. And just say to the people that want to harm us, don't mistake civility for weakness. You do so at your own peril. We're very tough people, we're very sane people, and very fair people. And I'm very, very proud of my country." — Mike Myers

Scott Oake interviewed the Canadian comedian before the 3rd period of the Maple Leafs game Saturday night. When Americans ask me what I like and appreciate about Canada, I give my best impressions. What I liked about Myers' answer is that it fits the emotion of what happened in the last week and why I like Canada.

I love the civility that Canada offers. Staying Canadian is the one thing that the terrorists don't want. Canada is tough, sane, and fair.

Myers is one of those Canadian entertainers that has crossed over into Hollywood. Yet he hasn't forgotten where he came from. Myers should be very proud of Canada's reaction to a heart wrenching tragedy.

The Saturday night anthem at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata was simulcast to the crowd at the Bell Centre in Montréal and the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

The video above showcased the three anthem locations. The anthem ran on CBC, City, Sportsnet One, and the NHL Network in the United States.

Coming on the heels of the anthem in Pittsburgh Wednesday night, O Canada had never sounded better. Maybe this will encourage more showing of the anthems on both sides of the border long after the attacks have slipped out of the spotlight.

The morning after the attack in Ottawa, U.S. cable news showed us coverage of the Canadian Parliament. We saw a speech from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair.

The coverage even stayed when the party leaders switched to French. Having the translator tell the audience what was being said definitely helped.

I watched the MSNBC coverage. They stayed with the prime minister and offered a little bit of Mulcair's speech. Trudeau had the disadvantage of being the leader of the current third party in the House of Commons.

Harper did huge the two other major party leaders in Mulcair and Trudeau. The prime minister also went over to Kevin Vickers, sergeant-at-arms for the House of Commons. Vickers was the one who shot the assailant who entered Parliament.

Would love to see C-SPAN carry Canadian Parliament. Nice to see coverage of Canada but still afraid the extra attention is more about hyping terrorism than appreciating Canada.

---

The Ottawa shooter had several reasons why he couldn't get a gun legally. Yet the guy, who was sleeping in an Ottawa homeless shelter, got a long gun — a Winchester .30-30 caliber rifle.

The Harper Government campaigned on getting rid of the long-gun registry and successfully eliminated the registry. Quebec, the province where the first soldier was killed and just across the river from Ottawa, fought hard in the courts to keep its long-gun registry but lost that fight.

Yes, it's entirely possible that the gun was stolen from a private citizen. But without the registry, we don't know the path of the gun. Since the Ottawa shooter is deceased, we can't ask him.

It is standard practice in Canada for courts to issue a lifetime gun ban to almost anyone convicted of a violent offence.

Even where such bans are not imposed, Zehaf-Bibeau would have found it virtually impossible to legally obtain a gun in Canada.

---

The Highway of Heroes lived up to its name as the body of Nathan Cirillo was driven back to his home in Hamilton.

I noted in my original thoughts that Remembrance Day will be a much bigger deal in Canada this year. This may be an understatement.

---

Don Cherry devoted all of Coach's Corner to Nathan Cirillo and Patrice Vincent as well as soldiers who are suffering from injuries and need help they aren't getting.

Given Cherry's sensibilities, this wasn't a surprise. He struck the right tone on the subject. Cherry was on such a roll that Ron MacLean, who sat beside him during the entire segment, didn't say a word.

Increase Friday night news programming

The CBC has a tremendous asset in the CBC News Network (better when it was CBC Newsworld). Friday night is set up on the CBC with "Marketplace" and "The Fifth Estate" but the network runs a "Rick Mercer Report" rerun in between the two news shows.

CBC could run a 30-minute wrapup of the week's events in that 8:30 pm slot. Evan Solomon and Carole MacNeil would be logical anchors. The network could throw in a panel discussion made popular on "The National."

If that doesn't appeal to the faithful, Solomon could do a version of "Power & Politics" for the CBC.

Yes, news programming is more expensive than a Rick Mercer rerun, but this is one area where the CBC can raise prestige for relatively little cost.

Prime time sports programming

Even with the cuts to CBC Sports, the network has plenty of people to showcase great Canadian sports. Elliotte Friedman is jumping to Rogers. Scott Oake will be on the NHL telecasts, though reportedly work for CBC Sports for other events. Even if Oake wouldn't be available, there are plenty of other personnel who could host a CBC Sports show on CBC.

This could range from the Don Cherry show I pitched to figure skating to sports that may have been lost in the shuffle on the weekend to a CFL or NHL roundtable show.

Like CBC News, CBC Sports is a great asset that could supply more programming for the mother channel.

More creative with afternoon reruns

CBC runs "Steven and Chris" at 2 pm, but otherwise the afternoon is filled with reruns of "Republic of Doyle"; "Heartland"; and "Dragons' Den." The 3p-5p slot would be perfect for an afternoon Canadian film. Again, "more expensive" than a rerun, but more creative.

If CBC is truly determined to go the rerun route, run the previous night's programming the next afternoon (Friday's schedule would run Monday afternoon). If someone missed a show, they could find the program easily the next day. (full disclosure: I saw this idea somewhere but don't remember where. Full credit to whomever had the idea.)

Spinoffs of successful CBC programs

Spinoffs are a part of TV history more than in the current reality. The CBC was able to strengthen its satiric comedy lineup with Rick Mercer after he was on "This Hour Has 22 Minutes." Mercer also worked on "Made in Canada" and "Talking to Americans" that had great success. Mercer hasn't created a new show since the "Rick Mercer Report" 10 years ago; why not give him an opportunity? Even the idea of a different show produced by Mercer could be a jumpstart for those who like him or his show.

Some of that energy from talented people can birth new and interesting shows and specials on the CBC.

Get more famous Canadians to give back

"Schitt's Creek" with SCTV alums Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara should be the start of recruiting famous Canadians to give back to the CBC.

The network has used Martin Short well lately in hosting the Canadian Screen Awards, but there should be room for non-SCTV artists who are famous in Hollywood who would be willing to give back to their home country.

We saw Canadian acting legend Donald Sutherland in "Crossing Lines" on the CBC last fall, but that was an international production.

Would Jason Jones and Samantha Bee of "The Daily Show" take a shot at specials or a short-run series (like 6 episodes) to create some buzz back in Canada?

U.S. TV shows use star power to build new shows. So much unknown Canadian talent needs love but so do Canadians who have made it but aren't as appreciated as Hollywood as they once were.

The CBC can provide creativity and patience to actors, writers, and directors. An idea that might not be CTV-worthy ratings-wise might find a home at CBC. And the CBC can risk an idea that might not be an instant hit.

Smarter reality TV shows

"Canada's Smartest Person" is a better entry than shows such as "Four Rooms," "Dragon's Den," and "Recipe to Riches" feel like compromises that have little Canadian content and are designed to appeal to a mainstream audience.

If the CBC really wants to go the reality route, then the network could run programs like "How Well Do You Know Canadian History/Geography." Or follow a family that could tell a story about a region such as an Acadian family from New Brunswick or a First Nations family in the style of "An American Family" on PBS. Not that CBC runs anything close to "Real Housewives of Red Deer," but the network should strive to be above the fray.

Recruit from CBC Radio

Jian Ghomeshi may be the next George Stroumboulopoulos. While Ghomeshi has had some exposure on the TV side, CBC could find more ways to get the host of "Q" on its TV airwaves.

And then the CBC needs to find a few more people like Stroumboulopoulos and Ghomeshi.

Raid college campuses for talent

The Junior Achievement people in South Bend, Indiana produced a 30-minute weekly TV show called "Beyond Our Control." These were high school students who were given a chance to make a TV show. For its time and the level of experience, the show was very cool.

Taking university students and having them produce a weekly show would be very cheap and very creative, two elements the CBC could use in its schedule.

Take a Web series to television

If you read the Canadian Comedy Awards nominees released yesterday, you'll notice nominees for a Web series. The next comedy hit may not come from films and theatre but the Internet.

June 11, 2013

The most famous — heck, the only Iranian journalist and filmmaker — that you know these days is Maziar Bahari.

The story of Maziar Bahari, and The Daily Show's connection to him, is why John Oliver is sitting in The Daily Show chair this summer.

What you may not have known about Bahari is that he has a Canadian connection.

While Bahari was born and grew up in Tehran, Iran, he graduated from Concordia University in Montréal.

Bahari is often identified as a Iranian-Canadian journalist, though he lives in London.

While in Canada, Bahari made his first film, a documentary called "The Voyage of the St. Louis" about 937 Jewish refugees who tried to escape Nazi Germany in 1939, only to be denied by Cuba and the United States and forced to go back to Germany.

As fans of The Daily Show can tell you, Bahari was arrested, interrogated, and tortured after appearing on the program in 2009 with Jason Jones, who is Canadian. Bahari's book, "Then They Came For Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity and Survival," is the inspiration for Rosewater, the film Jon Stewart will direct this summer.

We'll leave you with a link to an interview Bahari did with Q host Jian Ghomeshi earlier this year.

The impetus of the editorial stems from the hiring of Marc Trestman from the Montréal Alouettes. Some Chicago Bears fans may have discovered that there is a CFL. Marv Levy, who is from Chicago, followed a similar path from the CFL to the NFL.

And it doesn't hurt that in terms of the NHL team "half the team hails from Canada." If you break down the numbers purely by where they were born, the praise is true. Captain Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and Brent Searbrook are the most prominent Canadians on the roster. Coach Joel Quenneville, mentioned in the editorial, is from Windsor, just across the border from its biggest rival, Detroit.

The editorial praises Canada's economic situation, stable banks, stable housing market, better health care, source of oil. The editorial desperately wants the Keystone XL pipeline to be approved. The editorial should have pointed out that Canada is already the United States #1 source for oil.

The editorial writers also praise Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper "we know many Americans have never heard of him" for his quest to open up new markets for trade.

Chicago and Illinois already trade quite heavily with Canada, as I can vouch for in dealings with the Canada-U.S. Business Council (formerly the Canadian Club of Chicago), something not mentioned in the editorial.

The take on poutine is rather amusing.

This homely dish, a tradition in Quebec, has become a popular menu item at some of Chicago's trendiest eateries. Take a mess of french fries, sprinkle on cheese curds then ladle brown gravy all over it. Embellishments range from foie gras to kimchi. Reactions range from "Yuck" to "Yum."

Poutine commands attention, like so many imports from the land of moose and maples.

The key to the editorial is the perception of Canada. The country is vast and complicated, like any other country. Some stereotypes are thrown in, some good and some bad. But some careful research was done that has been overlooked elsewhere in the States (banks and housing markets leap to mind).

Cities closer to Canada see and feel more about the relationship between the two countries. And Chicago can easily access points to Canada, east and west, via multiple forms of transportation.

Let's leave this with the finishing touches from the editorial, and some more love from Canada, courtesy of the Chicago Tribune.

Land of the north, Chicago is calling to you. Calling your sesame bagels, smoked meat and Tim Hortons double-doubles. Calling your low rates of gun crime, and universal health care. Calling your oil, especially your oil. We hope some of that Canadian good fortune rubs off on our city.

October 22, 2012

Those who follow the Twitter feed know that I do post a lot of links from The Globe and Mail. Besides being Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail has an approach to stories that are better suited for an audience that is trying to learn more about Canada.

The terms are pretty harsh: you get 10 articles a month. If you choose to subscribe, you have to pay $19.99/month after getting a 1-month trial for 99¢. If you can subscribe to the weekend edition, you still have to pay $4.99/month. Only those with a 5- or 6-day subscription will get free, unlimited access.

$4.99/month would have spoken to a more viable option, especially for those who don't live in Canada.

If I lived in Toronto or elsewhere in Canada, I would be a subscriber to The Globe and Mail. But I don't and so I can't. I can understand the desire for getting more money from Canadians for its content, since Canadians could choose to subscribe. But if you live in Paris or London or New York or Stockholm, you want to read the news of Canada even if you can't subscribe.

Since the Internet responds to ISP addresses, The Globe and Mail could interact a paywall that only responds to Canadian ISPs. After all, the ads on the Web site don't realistically apply to those outside Canada.

The difficulty with other news sources is that the newspaper landscape in Canada is rather sad. The majority of newspapers in major Canadian cities are owned by Postmedia Network, an organization spun off from Canwest. The network is as weak as it is extensive, with few decisions, especially on national news, being made in those local cities.

Besides the right-wing dominant National Post, these major papers are part of the Postmedia Network: Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, The (Montréal) Gazette, Regina Leader-Post, Ottawa Citizen, The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon, SK), Windsor Star, and both daily Vancouver newspapers, the Vancouver Sun and The Province.

And Postmedia has launched paywalls at some of its newspapers. At least with The Globe and Mail, you get more articles you might want to pay for having.

They bring a point of view that is more about cost savings than strong journalism. If you think this is about political philosophy, The Globe and Mail is pretty conservative. For those who think The New York Times or to a lesser extent, The Washington Post, are liberal, Canada doesn't have that philosophical equivalent.

The U.S. has USA Today, plus NYT and WP, as papers that serve a broad national interest. When The New York Times put up its paywall, you could turn to The Washington Post. There is no such alternative on the Canadian newspaper landscape. The National Post is national, but certainly not straight ahead in its coverage.

As a reader, I turn to The New York Times less often as a new source as a result of the paywall, even if you can find ways to get around paywalls. This is my greatest fear for The Globe and Mail.

The newspaper does point out that "readers who find stories through social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook as well as search engines and blogs won't have those stories count against their monthly cap." For those that are savvy enough to do so, they can still tune in. For others, they may drop out.

"The Globe and Mail homepage and all section pages — such as Business, Life, Sports and Commentary — will not count against the meter. You can visit and view those pages as many times as you like."

Since the count is reset at the end of the month, you will get 10 days to experiment at the end of October. Hopefully, the newspaper will give you a heads-up. Still the idea of counting to 10 articles in 30 days with $20 at stake is the opposite tone you want when people are looking for news and information. We'll follow up to see how the new system will work.

The good news is that those who pick up the Twitter feed (@canadian_xing) can read those links without worry about the cap. The bad news for me is getting that info to my readers.

In the Twitter feed, we'll be adding more content from CBC News, the Toronto Star, Huffington Post Canada and other sources where we can find similar stories. In other instances, we will just draw attention to the story. Sometimes, The Globe and Mail will be the only source and we will have to proceed accordingly.

Reading about Canada from strong journalism sources is the best way to keep abreast of what is going on up north. The Globe and Mail paywall makes that a lot more difficult to do. Stick with CanadianCrossing.com and we'll make it work somehow. Our curiosity will still be vibrant, even if our choices are now more limited.

I was curious as to what was going on, and even I couldn't figure out what was going on or when.

No matter which person got the job, I wanted to see if the blog would make much of a dent in tourism for the Richmond, BC food scene. After all, if you are flying to Vancouver, you would be more likely to go eat in Vancouver, since Vancouver is an awesome city.

Unless you needed to eat near, but not in, the airport, or all the roads to Vancouver were washed out in a flood, you might not think to go to Richmond to eat.

This is why Richmond wanted to hire a food blogger. Publicity. This isn't what they got.